#freezerlovefriday easy lasagna

I am by no means an Italian, but I did grow up with a mother who can make an amazing lasagna! It is epic. We once missed our flight because we knew my mom had a lasagna cooking in the oven, OK there may be more to this story, but you get my point! It is good! 

When I started #freezerlovefriday I knew I would do a post with lasagna. It is the perfect meal to freeze and there is always a night where we are craving lasagna. When I made these, I was making a batch to take to our friends who had just welcomed a baby girl. I ended up having two to freeze, along with one for us to eat that night, it turned out perfectly. 

This lasagna is not the typical thick lasagna, it is perfect for 3 people, possibly 4, if you have two little ones. If you want bigger or thicker lasagna than only do two pans and double the layering. 

Don't mind the missing piece, my taste tester was EXTRA hungry this night!

Ingredients:

1 pound beef

1 pound turkey 

1 cup cut squash 

1/4 cup onion

2 jars of marinara 

2 8oz can of tomato sauce

1 t salt

1/4 t onion powder

1/2 t garlic powder

1/2 TBL Italian seasoning 

2 boxes of no cook lasagna noodles 

15 oz ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1TB parsley flakes 

32 oz bag of mozzarella cheese

EVOO

Directions:

Brown meat in skillet

Cook vegetables in EVOO along with salt, onion/ garlic powder and Italian seasoning. 

Combine all together including marinara sauce and tomato sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes and let cool.

Combine ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and parsley flakes. 

 My noodles were not the right size do the 8in foil pan, so I ended up having to break some off. Make sure to measure and try yours before you start loading them up! 

Spray bottom of pan lightly with Pam. 

Order:
Light layer of sauce

Noddles

Sauce 

Ricotta mixture

Cover with mozzarella cheese

Noodles

Sauce 

Mozzarella cheese 

Spray a piece of foil with Pam (so cheese does not stick to foil) and cover dish.

Bake covered with foil for 45 minutes.

Uncover and cook for 15 minutes more.

Enjoy! 

Freezing directions:

Spray foil with Pam spray

Cover dish 

Cover with Saran Wrap completely

Place directions on top and place in large ziplock bag. 

Cool completely and freeze for up to 2 months. 

If cooking when lasagna is frozen, it will require up to 2 hours at 350 degrees. I typically will take mine out of the freezer 48 hours in advance and place in  refrigerator. It is not necessary to unfreeze, just easier on your oven! 

The bottom left was the freezer version and I was giving the other three away, so placed foil (ready to bake) with the plastic lid that pan comes with!

I could not even get him to look up! He was so hungry, and he always loves his peas! 

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did! 

Happy freezing,

Meredith 

wine tasting, donkeys and pulled pork.

There is this little gem about 1 hour from our house that we discovered about 2 years ago, AZ Hops and Vines. It is magical, not only do they have fabulous wine, but the atmosphere is one for the books. We are the family that thrives on doing fun and normal things with our 2 year old. We take him along almost anywhere we go, as long as its safe and semi kid friendly. I love having a toddler that can hang with the big kids and be comfortable riding his bike around a winery, it works for us!  

Sonoita, AZ has quite a few wineries and some may even say is the wine country of Arizona. In the summer Tucson typically reaches temperatures into the 100's daily, so anywhere that has slightly cooler temps and great views is a plus in our books. We had been to a few wineries up there, but once we discovered AZ Hops and Vines, we have never looked back. It is a relatively new winery (4 years) that was opened by two sisters with a dream and a love for wine. Their story is so interesting and inspiring, make sure to check it out here. Keep on dreaming ladies, because we love what you have come up with!

This visit we went with friends of ours, who had never been, and we were so excited to introduce them. They are a great couple with a daughter, whom Luke adores, so we knew it would be fun for everyone. Nick, Briana and Natalia have followed us on many random adventures, including driving into the middle of no where for a music festival that had zero attendees, and I am pleased to say that this adventure turned out exactly how we envisioned!

We typically bring our own lunch or dinner, or just snacks, buy a bottle and enjoy the scenery. This time around we brought pulled pork in a crock pot, and homemade mac n cheese. It worked perfectly, and the owner thought it was brilliant! They have a few animals, and yes the donkey does bite as Luke found out recently,  lots of area for the kids to run and play and the tractors are always a huge hit. We go for the experience, just as much as we go for the great wine. Luke calls it the farm! We love bringing out of town guests here to see that Arizona truly does have a little but of everything. 

My favorite wine this visit was the Verena, though I am always a fan of the Fluffer, the Verena was light and refreshing, and I ultimately bought a bottle. I think one of my favorite things about the wine is their labels. They are always so thoughtfully done, and usually done by a local artist.

Briana enjoyed the Cabernet Sauvignon, Amanda, and the special thing about this wine is that EVERYTHING was done at the winery. So, the grapes are straight from their land in Sonoita, planted in 2011 and then foot crushed and aged in the barrel. There is something so special drinking a wine that is so fresh and so local. All of the tastings are paired with a fun snack, which can be shared with the kiddos. My personal favorite were the cheetos (paired with the Imbibe.2), and who doesn't love a side of cheetos with a glass of wine, right? You can definitely tell the vibe of the place after reading this wine description;

"This red blend pairs well with a prime rib roast, smoked goose, old gouda or pecorino cheeses as well as Papa John’s. This wine is more Godfather and less Jersey Shore. Had a bad day? The Rational will make you fuhgeddaboudit."

If you are in Arizona, it is a must. Here is a list of their upcoming events, one of these days we will make it to a Bad Decisions Campout! 

 There are some weekends that you just pinch yourself to make sure you are still awake, because of the love and support that you find in them. This was absolutely one of those weekends! 

#freezerlovefriday pepper style

Stuffed peppers have become SO popular. I remember them being one of my four dinners that I used to cook as a newlywed, and I made it often! They are so easy and there are so many different ways to prepare them. We still do them occasionally (thankfully, I have learned to embrace new recipes), and consider them one of my easier #freezerlovefriday choices!! 

I use the crockpot for mine, because I love knowing that after a busy day, our dinner is done and waiting for us! Also, remember you are just freezing the filling, you would not want to freeze the whole pepper with the filling inside, fresh and crispy peppers are always the best! This recipe will make enough filling for your dinner the night of, as well as the dinner you will be freezing. There are so many different ways to make stuffed peppers, but this is one of our favorites.  

Ingredients:

5 bell peppers 

3 cups prepared rice or quinoa

2 pounds of ground turkey

2 can of stewed tomatoes 

1 cup peas

2 cup of cut yellow squash and zucchini

3 TB of cajun seasoning

EVOO

Directions:

Wash and prepare your peppers, by slicing off the top and clearing out the ribs and seeds. 

Cook rice or quinoa if needed, using directions listed on box. 

Add a dash of EVOO to a skillet and brown the turkey completely. 

Add in the tomatoes, veggies, rice (or quinoa) and seasoning into the skillet. 

Let that simmer for 5 minutes. 

Remove from heat. If freezing half the batch, place in a ziplock bag and let cool completely, than place in freezer. 

Add the mixture to the peppers and cook on low for 4 hours in the crockpot. 

We like to top ours with avocado and sour cream, or just eat plain! 

Enjoy!

                            

This is a recipe that you would want to let thaw completely before preparing it again. I would take the ziplock bag out of the freezer a day before and let thaw in the fridge, than prepare the peppers the next day. 

How do you stuff your peppers? 

Happy freezing, 

Meredith 

buns of speed!

Happy Monday ya'll! I hope your coffee was strong and your "to do" list short! 

 Which one to choose? Who else loves a near empty gym? I find myself singing and dancing along to my music, and with no one else in the treadmill area, it means I can let loose!

I am not sure how I have not shared this treadmill workout. I like to call this workout, "Buns of Speed"! It is a good calorie burner and in a perfect world it would be 3 miles, instead of just short, but when I am on the treadmill I am really going for time, not distance. 35 minutes is the perfect amount for me, because it gives me enough time to stretch and visit the weight room, but still feel like I got in a good cardio workout.

Buns of Speed!

Here is my recap! If you must hit that 3 mile mark, than add on 5 minutes which would add on roughly 1/2 a mile, or extend your warm up by a minute! Also, remember the idea is to get the incline so you choose the speeds that work for you. 

I think it may be time to share some of my favorite workout tunes with you. Here is a link to my go to running mix, it is quite the mix. 

http://open.spotify.com/user/rnye1/playlist/4aiwZHQj0hofE7wqXyMNyb

You will notice a good amount of Britney on this list, she is amazing and will forever be my Work B*tch! 

What's your running jam?!

Happy running, 

Meredith 

big boy future

The day has come! My baby is no longer in his crib, and I am not sure how to feel about it. This age is so much fun, every day is something new and exciting to him. He is almost speaking full sentences and his facial expressions have always been animated, but they have reached a whole new level, lately! 

I did a side table a few weeks back, and let you all know that I had a big project coming up. Well, I had found a toddler bed on a garage sale site, and was immediately drawn to the cheap price and the potential. When we bought the bed, the color was grey, while I love the new grey fad, it just didn't go with his room at all. I ended up going with Olympic - Star Spangled (in satin) for the color. I did not want a nautical blue but still wanted it to go with the decor I already had in his room, so opted for a bit of a deeper blue. I am very happy with how it turned out! 

Luke has been watching me prepare and paint the bed, and has been so anxious to see the finished product. We gave him his new quilt a week ago and let him sleep with it in his crib, to help the transition. Luke LOVES sleep, so needless to say I am a bit nervous to change anything up out of his routine. What if he didn't go to sleep on his own anymore? What if he wasn't excited for the change?  Of course there are days where it takes him a bit to fall asleep for nap, or nights where he is a bit wired, but for the most part he enjoys his sleep time.  

 I used the same method as I did for the side table, using the liquid deglosser. Though I regret using white primer, I feel like it made it mandatory for me to do 3-4 coats of the blue. 

After one coat of the blue. Have y'all seen those handy pour paint lids, invest in one, quickly! 

Also, with our monsoon season, it took FOREVER to dry. It is so important to let the coats dry completely before moving on to the next step. Patience is a virtue, right?!? I did change up the sealant a bit, using a paint on option instead, Valspar Clear Protector. Definitely more time consuming than the spray on, but I like the outcome! 

Here is the bed after the clear sealant coat was added, it took about 2 hours to dry to the touch. 

Sunday was the day, everything was dry and we were motivated to make the change! Luke helped Ryan take apart his crib and the changing table (I know, he hasn't fit on it for like a year, but it was so easy)! He also semi helped to assemble the bed, which made it so fun. Tool belt and all! 

Here is his new room, I really didn't change much except for the bed and added a few more updated pictures, as well as throw pillows. 

Lampshades were a great find from Target, a few years back. Here is a fabulous DIY, to make your own Chevron print lampshades. Seems super simple and fun!

Update!

 We found this giraffe picture at Kirklands, and knew it was the perfect addition for his new room! And it was on sale for $13.00, can't beat that!

Alphabet Mobile is Pottery Barn Kids and unfortunately no longer available. Here is a similar one, and from a small business, so double score!  

We also decided to do an incentive program for him staying in his bed. The kid loves stickers, so we went that route. I made a little sign and hung it on his door, and we told him if he stayed in his bed, than he would get one sticker in the morning and after nap. This morning he was so excited for his car sticker. As I type this, he is happily napping in his big boy bed, anxiously awaiting his car sticker. I hope it has not been a fluke that it has gone so smoothly, but am thankful anyway! 

He was so excited to go to bed Sunday night, it made us so happy and a bit sad too. Growing up is part of life, but I feel so unprepared to see baby lukey (as his friends and cousins call him) grow up. All we can do is hope that we are molding them into good, sincere human beings, and preparing them as best we can for the future. For now, I will still sneak in the cuddles when I can and wait for the next big milestone! 

Happy parenting, 

Meredith 

#freezerlovefriday filled with color!

Today's #freezerlovefriday is one of my absolute favorite meals! We have been making it long before Luke came into our lives, and he has learned to love it just as much as we do. We call it the colorful potato mashup! 

It is filled with color and so easy to throw together. Typically I will make a double batch, marinate and freeze one bag for the future. It is perfect because our local grocery store will often do a sale on the turkey kielbasa, so I stock up and make a few batches of the mashup.  The following recipe is for ONE meal, so make sure you double it if you want to freeze some. 

Ingredients

Turkey Kielbasa 

Bag of mini peppers

3-4 potatoes (red or white)

EVOO

Cajun Seasoning 

Salt

Toppings

Banana Peppers

Avocado 

Parmesan Cheese 

Directions

Cut up the kielbasa, potato, and peppers. Throw into a freezer Ziploc bag, add in EVOO, Cajun seasoning and salt. Mix that well and let marinate for a hour in the fridge. 

If freezing, lay flat and place in freezer. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare your cookie sheet, lining  it with parchment paper or foil for easy cleanup. 

Spoon out the mixture, careful not to add too much of the marinade into the pan. Top with banana peppers. 

Cook for 30 minutes. 

Serve with a side of avocado and top with parmesan cheese! 

This is always a go to meal for me on days where we have a busy evening, or days where I would rather hang with the family than be in the kitchen all night! It freezes well, and makes for a super simple evening. 

We hope you enjoy the colorful potato mashup, as much as Luke does!

Happy freezing, 

Meredith 

summer popsicles

Luke is a pretty good eater, he loves to clear his plate and one of his favorite foods to eat is broccoli. I still try to make veggies fun, and I try my hardest to hide them in nearly everything I make. We tried to keep him away from sugar until recently, for many reasons, but mainly I didn't want to lose my "good eater". And let me tell you, when he discovered sweet sugar, his life was changed. If we mention the word cookie, his face lights up like it's Christmas! His latest love is ice cream, and while we limit it as much as we can, there is nothing better than ice cream in the summer! 

The other morning, I was making Luke one of his favorite smoothies and had an epiphany, why not turn this into a Popsicle? It has loads of spinach in it, and we had so much fruit that was ready to eat. I dug through my pantry and found the set of Popsicle forms that I had bought a few years ago and got to work. 

Luke's morning smoothie! 

Ingredients:  

2 cups of watermelon 

1 cup mixed berries (I used blackberries and blueberries) 

1/4 cup water 

1 tbsp Agave in the Raw 

2 large handfuls of spinach 

Directions: 

Throw all ingredients (minus the spinach)  into the blender, blend well. 

Add in handfuls of spinach and blend together. 

Pour into the Popsicle forms and freeze for at least 2 hours. 

Run the Popsicle sticks under water for a few seconds to help the Popsicle come out of form. 

These are so simple and so yummy. They proved to be the best summer treat for not only Luke, but us too!  We enjoyed them outside (they were a bit messy) as an after nap snack, while waiting for Dad to get home. I can say that these will be a staple in our house, and I look forward to making some new variations to share with you all!

Happy blending, 

Meredith 

praise for the incline!

Running in the desert during the summer, is similar to running on a treadmill in the sauna. You feel wore out way before you hit your high, and your legs are just jello. It is rough! Ryan, Luke and I went for a 4.5 mile run Sunday morning, and while I felt a bit better this run than I have the past few, it is just so hard to have an enjoyable run in July. So, I am back to the treadmill grind this week, maybe we will try a bit earlier next weekend, or maybe not!

Luke fell asleep on our run, which he has not done in over a year. I blame it on early wake up, due to him discovering he can get out of his crib! I think we will be transitioning to the big boy bed soon, be on the look out for updates on that! 

 In other big news, Ryan and I have decided to run the Phoenix Rising Half Marathon in November (now that I have announced it to the masses, you are for sure doing it, Ryan)! Ryan has been running more and more, and we think it will be fun to train together and accomplish something that large, together! 

Inclines are my best friend on the treadmill. There are days where sprinting just isn't on the books for me, and those days I typically focus on the incline buttons! According to Self Magazine, incline work targets your thighs, calves and booty. Who doesn't need to work their booty?  Also, since I have started to do incline work, I have noticed a huge difference in my pace as well as less shin splints. Clearly, I am a big advocate of adding incline! 

This is my "go to" workout for days where I feel like spending a big chunk of my gym time on the treadmill, but I am not in the mood to just run. It burns a lot of calories and gives me a good solid distance. 

Here is my workout recap! 

I feel the same as every average American, treadmill running is not fun, but I hope my last few treadmill posts have helped you to change up the monotony! Tweak them how you need, maybe you start faster, maybe you start slower, whatever you do just START! 

Happy running, 

Meredith